


Dive into the choppy black sea

by AleneShazam



Category: Love Live! School Idol Festival (Video Game), Love Live! School Idol Project, Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: AU Future?, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Everyone is older, F/F, Starts off angsty but gets fluffy eventually, Suicide Attempt, and gayer, and maybe just a little wiser, it sounds bad but trust me it's mostly slice of life, past relationships coming back to haunt you
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-03
Updated: 2017-08-03
Packaged: 2018-12-10 11:03:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11690304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AleneShazam/pseuds/AleneShazam
Summary: Sometimes things seem bleak. They certainly do for Yoshiko. But there's hope to be found in the most unlikely of places, and Yoshiko finds hers in one Watanabe You.[YouHane! AU where Riko never transfers and Aqours never forms. Yoshiko is just done with college in Tokyo, and You has a boat.]Content warning: Implied suicide attempt right at the beginning. Yoshiko is going through rough times.





	Dive into the choppy black sea

**Author's Note:**

> Follow my tumblr for updates, art, requests, and more! (<https://worldofoasis.tumblr.com/>)

It’s quiet in the taxi, as it cruises down the sea-side motorway. The driver glances into the back mirror, once again looking over his eccentric passenger. She’s a young woman, perhaps twenty something, with long dark-blue hair and piercing pink-magenta eyes. Her skin is pale - extremely so, and combined with her delicate features, the driver almost mistakes her for a doll at first. Though, with how quiet she is, she may as well be a doll. Aside from the occasional readjusting of her position after driving over a pothole, the woman doesn’t move, or speak, or indeed express any emotions. She just wears the same pensive, contemplative expression the whole journey.

Usually the driver would make conversation - he’s the chatty type, and likes to talk to his passengers. But this time, he feels prudent to keep quiet. Focusing his attention back onto the road, he notices that it’s started to very lightly drizzle, with dark clouds encroaching on the beautiful sunset over the sea. As the taxi passes a sign, the driver checks the slip of paper that the woman gave him in the beginning of the trip. He slows the vehicle down, turns away from the motorway, and drives down a dirt road, eventually coming to a stop at what seems to be a viewing platform perched on the edge of a cliff.

“We’ve arrived, miss.” He says, turning to look at the young woman in the back. She blinks for a moment, as though rousing herself from a trance, and gives the driver a ghostly smile. It’s startlingly beautiful, and the driver is dazed for a moment.

The woman glances at the fare meter, and reaches into her wallet, fishing out a stack of cash. It’s roughly twice the amount that she owes, but when the driver opens his mouth to object she shakes her head firmly. “Keep it,” she says, with the same, faint smile.

The driver stares at her for a moment before shrugging. “Are you sure you want to stop here? With that much payment I’m fine with taking you to the village proper. There’s a whole lot of nothing here, and the weather’s getting ugly.”

The young woman shakes her head. “I’ll be fine here. Thank you for your service.” She opens the door, steps outside into the rain - which has since grown more intense - and gives the driver a polite bow before closing the door.

The driver scratches his head, but shrugs again, and he drives off, leaving the woman behind as the taxi goes back onto the motorway and disappears into the distance.

 

* * *

  

The faint smile fades from the young woman’s face. She doesn’t have any luggage with her - she’s not going to need any. She steps onto the wooden viewing platform, and sits down on one of the benches near the edge, staring out to the sea. The sunset has been replaced by a grey twilight, and the waves, once golden, are now a deep, inscrutable blue.

She stays there for a long while, her clothes becoming soaked in the process. The cold numbs her limbs, and finally she stands up, and walks over to the edge of the platform, stopping right before the safety railing on the edge. She leans over the rails, staring down at the sea.

The waters are dark and choppy, churning and twisting, crashing against the cliff which the viewing platform is on and scattering into white foam. She bites her lip as she stares at the waves, and unbidden, her hand reaches into her pocket, pulling out a phone. Shielding it from the rain with her other hand, she brings up her message log, stopping when she comes across a particular person.

“Lily…”

The last message she sent out to ‘Lily’ is weeks ago, simply saying, ‘good-bye’.

She sighs, pockets the phone again, and closes her eyes. The wind howls around her, the rain soaking her to the bone. She stands there for a moment, battered by the elements. A final punishment, she supposes, and she smiles self-depreciatingly.

Her hands, gripping the railing, starts to loosen.

Her heart is pounding, but her mind has never been clearer. She breathes in, breathes out.

She opens her eyes again when the sound of a car stopping on the motorway reaches her ears. A door opens, then closes, and wet muddy footfalls approach her.

“Hey there, stranger.” A woman’s voice sounds, and she turns around, slowly. Blue eyes, short ash-brown hair, baseball jacket. Very pretty, in that boyish handsome sort of way. She’s got an umbrella, also blue. The newcomer gives the young woman a small smile and a friendly wave. After a few long moments, the woman gives her a small nod.

“You look lost,” The newcomer says. She almost seems to sniff the air for a moment, before gesturing at her vehicle - a battered looking pick-up truck. “If you don’t have a place to stay, I can give you a lift and a place to stay the night. The weather’s only gonna get worse from here, and I’m not about to let a pretty girl spend a night out in this storm.”

She gives the woman a friendly smile, and in spite of her condition, the woman can’t help but smile back. The newcomer’s optimism is infectious. The young woman spares another look out to sea, before sighing, shaking her head, and stepping up next to the newcomer, huddling under her umbrella.

She couldn't follow through, in the end.

“I don’t have a change of clothes, unfortunately, but I can turn the truck’s heat up,” The stranger says, as they trudge up the dirt path - now mud path - towards the motorway. The young woman makes no response, but the newcomer doesn’t seem to mind, graciously opening the passenger side door for the woman to enter before going round to the other side of the truck and sliding into the driver’s seat. With the door closed and the umbrella stowed away, the stranger nods and starts up the engine again, the truck slowly picking up speed down the motorway.

Just as the stranger predicted, the weather gets worse, the rain hammering down on the truck’s windshield. But inside the truck, the young woman slowly regains feeling in her arms and legs as the truck’s heater gradually warms her up again.

When the young woman stops looking she’s going to die of hypothermia, the stranger speaks up. “So… I suppose introductions are in order. I’m Watanabe You. I’m a ferry captain operating out of Uchiura.”

She glances expectantly at the young woman, but the woman doesn’t respond immediately, just furrowing her brow as she stares ahead into the darkness beyond the reach of the truck’s lights. The rain continues to beat on the glass, the only sound alongside the low rumble of the engine that’s audible while the woman seems to consider her response.

Finally, after a long silence, she says, simply, “Tsushima Yoshiko.”

“Well, nice to meet you, Miss Tsushima.” You says genially, adjusting the steering slightly as the truck comes off the motorway. The hillside slowly transitions to more urbanized streets, though the buildings are still distinctly village-like, lacking entirely in grandeur. “Or would you rather some other name? I prefer just You myself.”

Yoshiko doesn’t say anything, but she shrugs very slightly.

You nods slowly, seemingly not bothered by Yoshiko’s silence. Eventually the truck finally comes to a stop in an empty lot, and You gives Yoshiko an apologetic smile. “My place is still a bit of a walk away. There’s no parking space for the house, so… sorry about that.”

Yoshiko shakes her head, opens her mouth. “I don’t mind.” Her voice is quiet, but You smiles widely regardless, pulling out the umbrella again.

“Right. This way, it’s not too far from here.”

You tries her best to shield Yoshiko with the umbrella as they make their way through the darkened streets, illuminated only by the occasional streetlamp. It does mean that You’s shoulder gets soaked, and noticing this, Yoshiko glances at You’s face for a moment, scrutinizing her expression. You catches her doing this, and just gives Yoshiko an easygoing smile. Yoshiko is surprised at how easily a smile comes in response.

Soon enough they arrive at a house - similar to the other houses in the area, with two stories, a balcony on the second floor, and walls along the outside - with a nameplate reading Watanabe next to the outer gate. You pushes past the gates quickly - they’re not locked - and fishes a set of keys from out of a jacket pocket, and opens up the front door, gesturing for Yoshiko to head inside.

Locking the door behind them, You breathes in for a moment before smiling at Yoshiko. “Well, at least the weather won’t bother us anymore.” Shrugging off her wet jacket, she kicks off her shoes and steps into a living room area, switching on the lights and haphazardly tossing the jacket onto a couch.

There’s a big dining table pushed up against one wall, right across to a large fish tank. There’s an open kitchen past the tank, and the aforementioned L-shaped couch that dominates the rest of the living room. Next to the front door is a staircase leading up to a second floor.

Yoshiko looks around, uncertain as to what to do, and You quickly pushes her towards the dining table. “Sit, please. I’ll get the bathroom ready, and see if I can’t find some clothes that fit you. Shouldn’t be an issue, we look about the same size.”

Yoshiko nods, and You flashes her another smile before running off upstairs. Now that she’s alone, her expression falls apart, and the carefully maintained impassiveness crumbles into a tired grimace. Tears don’t come, but she rubs at her eyes anyway, the tightness in her chest making it hard to breathe.

“…Crap…” She mutters under her breath. “Not this again…”

She pulls out her phone, tries to turn on the screen, but it resolutely stays dark - it must have broken down in the rain. Setting the phone down, she sighs in frustration, running her hand through her hair. She stops, however, when she hears footsteps coming back downstairs.

Sure enough, You quickly descends down the stairs, stopping in front of the dining table. “The water is warmed up. The room with the blue anchor on the door is mine, the other one is the guest bedroom. I’ve got clean clothes out on the bed, and you can feel free to use whatever is in the bathroom.”

Yoshiko nods, and stands to head towards the stairs when You suddenly speaks up. “Oh right! Are you hungry? I haven’t got much, but I can whip something up pretty quickly.”

Yoshiko hesitates for a moment before shaking her head. “I’m… fine, thanks,” She mumbles, before hurrying upstairs.

She functions almost on autopilot as she grabs the dry clothes - simple and comfortable home wear, all with nautical motifs - and heads into the bathroom, wasting no time at all to strip herself of the cold wet clothes she wore and step into the bathtub. She turns on the shower faucet, and sighs as warm water splashes over her. Despite the comfort, she doesn’t stay long in the shower, only as long as is necessary to wash her hair and body.

Toweling herself off, she slips into the dry clothes, and heads promptly to the guest room that You indicated. She spares only a moment to look around. The room is quite bare, with a single person bed, a dressing mirror, and a cupboard. There’s a window with drawn-up curtains, and the room is lit up by a light in the ceiling. She moves to switch off the light, and crawls into bed. She expects a sleepless night, but surprisingly enough, dreams claim her quickly after she’s tucked in. Dreams of a choppy black sea, and howling winds, and a distant flash of wine red and gold that’s far out of reach.

 

* * *

 

Yoshiko wakes up to birdsong and the gentle drone of the sea. Light filters in from between the curtains, highlighting the motes of dust the drift into the shafts of morning sunlight.

She yawns and stretches, grimacing when she hears her spine pop and crackle like a new years fireworks display. Rolling her head from side to side to loosen up her stiff neck, she eventually slides out of bed, drawn towards the mirror in one corner of the room.

Peering into it, she touches a hand to her eyes - they’re red, and puffy, like she’d been crying. She doesn’t remember crying, though. The rest of her looks surprisingly alright - she’s wearing a pale blue t-shirt and white shorts, the clothes that You had given her last night. They fit surprisingly well, except around the chest, where it’s a bit loose.

Yoshiko tries not to think about it too hard.

Shaking her head, she turns around and heads out of the room, carefully walking down the stairs and peeking out at the living room.

You is already at the table, an empty plate in front of her, a cup of something or another in her hand. She’s reading the papers with a serious expression on her face, but when she catches sight of Yoshiko skulking around at the base of the stairs she brightens up and sets down the news, standing up.

“Ohayosoro, Miss Tsushima! How’re you feeling? I hope the room wasn’t too bad for your liking?”

Yoshiko quirks an eyebrow at the strange greeting, but smiles and shakes her head at the rest of the questions. “I’m feeling better, I suppose. The sleep helped. The room was fine. Good, even.”

“That’s good to hear,” You beams brightly and gestures at the table. “Sit down, sit down! I’ve got some breakfast made already - I hope you don’t mind egg and toast, it’s all I’ve got right now.”

“That’s fine, thank you.”

Yoshiko takes a seat as You hurries off to the kitchen, coming back with a plate of exactly what she described: a sunny side up egg, and a slice of buttered toast.

“Here you go,” You says, placing the plate down in front of Yoshiko and passing her a knife and fork. As Yoshiko tucks in to the humble breakfast, You sits back down across her, smiling as she watches Yoshiko eat. “How’s the food?” She asks after a while.

“Mm,” Yoshiko mumbles, half-way through her egg. She swallows, and tries again. “It’s nice.”

You nods happily. “Good to hear,” she says again.

There’s a period of silence after that, as Yoshiko continues to eat, and You clears away her own plate and cup. Eventually You comes back from the kitchen with another cup, which she offers to Yoshiko. “Tea?”

“Thank you,” Yoshiko says, taking the tea from You. As Yoshiko sips on it, she glances at You, giving the woman a closer look, as she’d been preoccupied by other things on her mind. You’s about as tall as she is, maybe a little taller, but definitely more athletic, with a well-toned body and strong limbs. She seems to be smiling all the time, and her blue eyes, when they catch the morning sunlight, seem to sparkle with energy.

Opening her mouth to speak, Yoshiko hesitates for a moment, thinking about what to say. You doesn’t interrupt her, giving her the time to think. “…I’m sorry I was short with you last night,” Yoshiko says, finally, after some deliberation.

You shook her head. “Don’t sweat it, Miss Tsushima. You were freezing to death, you’re bound to be more quiet.”

“But still. I should properly express my gratitude.” Yoshiko bows her head slightly. “Thank you for the ride, and the place to stay. And… the food, now.”

“Seriously, it’s no trouble. It was on the way, and again, I can’t bear to see a pretty girl freeze out in a storm,” You says, and now that she’s in the condition to do so, Yoshiko blushes faintly at the last part. “I’m sure anyone would have done the same.”

“Knowing my luck, perhaps not,” Yoshiko says, sighing.

“Well, you don’t know the people here. We’re mostly friendly, here in Uchiura. To each other, and to outsiders.” You smiles, and Yoshiko doesn’t doubt what she says in the least. “Speaking of… you’re not from around here, are you, Miss Tsushima? If you don’t mind me prying.”

“I’m from Tokyo. Well, I was born in Numazu, but I came here from Tokyo.” Yoshiko explains.

“Ah, coming back to your roots?” You nods. “I getcha, I getcha. Though, not much has changed in Uchiura in the twenty odd years I’ve been around for.”

“Well, stability is a good thing,” Yoshiko points out.

You laughs and nods. “True, though it could stand to modernize just a little.” She pauses. “So, how long are you staying in Uchiura for?”

Yoshiko falls silent, an uncomfortable expression on her face. You realizes she may have said something wrong, and opens her mouth, but before she can say anything Yoshiko suddenly speaks up. “I’m… not sure, actually. This isn’t exactly a… planned visit.”

“…Hm.” You scratches her cheek for a moment, not sure what to say to that. “Well… if you plan to stay for longer, I can recommend an inn or something. I know someone. Or - well, if you don’t mind, you can just stay here. I’m not gonna kick you out or anything. The house is too empty anyway.”

Yoshiko smiles gratefully. “Thank you, You. You’re too kind.”

“Aw, shucks.” You laughs, scratching the back of her head. “I’m just doing the right thing.”

She stands up and stretches, glancing at a clock. “By the way, Miss Tsushima, do you have anything planned for the day?”

Yoshiko hesitates, shakes her head. “Not really.”

“Would you like to go meet the neighbors? I need to get groceries anyway, I just thought maybe you would like to tag along.” You gestures at the empty plate in front of Yoshiko. “Y’know, so I can make more than just toast and eggs.”

“Mmm…” Yoshiko hesitates, biting her lip. “I don’t… maybe I should just stay here…”

“You don’t have to be shy!” You smiles, as she collects up Yoshiko’s platter. “I’m sure everyone’ll love you.”

“I wouldn’t want to be a bother…”

“You’re not a bother! Really! In fact, I insist! You’re a visitor, so I’m beholden to show you the sights of the town!”

Looking at You, smiling hopefully, Yoshiko sighs, and nods. “…In that case, who am I to refuse?”

You beams, and claps her hands together. “Great! Your shoes should be dry already, but if they’re not, I’ve got some sandals lying around I can lend you.” She gestures at the kitchen. “Once I’m done with the dishes we’ll go.”

“Wait—” Yoshiko glances at the small stack of dirty plates and cutlery. “Let me. You’ve done so much already.”

“Aw, that won’t be necessary.”

“No, please. I insist. You’ve gone above and beyond the call of duty to accommodate me, I’ll have to repay you _somehow_.”

You chuckles. “Using my own words against me? That’s cheating…” But she relents, and runs a hand through her hair. “Well then… the blue bottle is detergent, the red bottle is hand wash. There’s a sponge in the bowl, and I don’t mind how you stack the things on the rack. I guess I’ll take the chance to freshen up?”

Yoshiko nods, and You steps upstairs, presumably to her room. Yoshiko heads over to the kitchen, starting to go through the motions of washing the dishes. The different layout takes her some getting used to, but really, dishwashing is much the same, no matter in Uchiura or Tokyo. She works up a comfortable rhythm, and before long the few dirty dishes are clean and put away, leaving Yoshiko with some time before You comes back down.

Wiping off her hands, she decides to take a look around the living room. Decorations are sparse, and some of the things on the shelves look like they haven’t been moved in years. There are a few framed photos, here and there. One is of You on a large cruiser, wearing a sailor’s outfit, with the words ‘Uchiura Marine Tour Ferry’ emblazoned on one side. The ship isn’t the biggest or the fanciest, but You looks ecstatic and is saluting the camera.

Another photo has a younger You, maybe high school age, with her arms around two other girls - a taller girl with blue hair, and a girl similar height to You with orange hair. They’re smiling, and in the background is an old school, a school that spikes a memory in Yoshiko. Uranohoshi Girl’s High School.

There’s one with a little girl who might’ve been You, alongside an older woman who looks a lot like You now, but with longer hair, and a man in a sailor’s uniform. The photo looks old and weathered.

“I’m ready to set out…” Yoshiko hears You say, and turns around to see her stepping down the stairs. She’s changed out of her bland sleepwear. Instead she’s wearing a blue hoodie, with a white-and-cyan t-shirt underneath. It’s simple, but You makes it work. She stops when she notices where Yoshiko is standing.

She walks over to Yoshiko, and glances at the photo she’s looking at. “I see you’ve met my parents. And me. Little You.”

“Little You is kind of cute,” Yoshiko says, before she can stop herself.

You blushes mildly, but she chuckles. “She is, isn’t she.”

“So… you mentioned you’re a ferry captain. Is your Dad…” Yoshiko gestures at the man in the uniform.

“Was. …And, yes. Us Watanabe’s have always belonged to the sea.” You touches the photo, before turning to smile at Yoshiko. “So, all set to get some clothes? And meet some cool people?”

“Lead the way.” Yoshiko’s shoes are still damp, so she borrows a set of You’s sandals. They’re a little loose, but she can’t complain.

Following You, they leave the house, and set off to explore Uchiura.

**Author's Note:**

> Something a little more experimental, with more mature characters and more serious undertones.


End file.
